Wall Street banks plan sale of X debt at a discount
Bankers are reportedly gearing up to offload debt used to fund Elon Musk’s social network, for which he paid $44 million in 2022 including $13 billion in financing. Morgan Stanley is leading the charge, hoping to sell senior debt at between 90 and 95 cents on the dollar, reports the
Read moreRetro Biosciences, backed by Sam Altman, is raising $1 billion to extend human lifespan
Sam Altman-backed Retro Biosciences is raising $1 billion to develop drugs that extend human lifespan by 10 years, the FT reports. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreUnitedHealth confirms 190 million Americans affected by Change Healthcare data breach
The number of individuals confirmed to be affected by the data breach is almost double the company's previous estimate. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreIn motion to dismiss, chatbot platform Character AI claims it is protected by the First Amendment
Character AI, a platform that lets users engage in roleplay with AI chatbots, has filed a motion to dismiss a case brought against it by the parent of a teen who committed suicide, allegedly after becoming hooked on the company’s technology. In October, Megan Garcia filed a lawsuit against Character
Read moreElon Musk email to X staff: ‘we’re barely breaking even’
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Ever since Elon Musk closed his deal to buy Twitter he’s claimed the company, now called X, is in “a very dire situation from a revenue standpoint.” Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that banks are preparing a coordinated move to sell
Read moreAI companies upped their federal lobbying spend in 2024 amid regulatory uncertainty
Companies spent significantly more lobbying AI issues at the U.S. federal level last year compared to 2023 amid regulatory uncertainty. According to data compiled by OpenSecrets, 648 companies spent on AI lobbying in 2024 versus 458 in 2023, representing a 141% year-over-year increase. Companies like Microsoft supported legislation such as
Read moreElevenLabs has raised a new round at $3B+ valuation led by ICONIQ Growth, sources say
Companies that want to build AI voice into their products are rushing to work with ElevenLabs, the startup that develops synthetic voice technology like voice cloning and dubbing tools. Now ElevenLabs is turning up the volume on its business with a huge series C raise, just a year after a
Read moreX expands its vertical video feed to global users
X has started expanding its dedicated vertical video feed to users outside the U.S., TechCrunch has exclusively learned and confirmed with the company. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreFlip, the TikTok Shop rival, launches a creator fund that grants up to $100M of equity
Flip is a social commerce app that lets shoppers become creators. They can share honest reviews and earn cash based on engagement on the platform. As Flip competes with TikTok Shop and other platforms in a highly competitive market, it has introduced a new creator fund that offers a unique
Read moreMark Zuckerberg says Meta will have 1.3M GPUs for AI by year-end
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company plans to significantly up its capital expenditures this year as it aims to keep pace with rivals in the cutthroat AI space. In a Facebook post Friday, Zuckerberg said that Meta expects to spend $60 billion-$80 billion on CapEx in 2025, primarily
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